Letters to the Editor
moishe
Published Letters: 118 Editor's Choice: 4
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When sexism was a sin
[Read the article: Feminism after Friedan]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I was a young boy in the mid-60s when my mother told me that racism was a sin. We lived in the South. As young as I was, Mom didn't have to explain to me what racism was. Somehow, I just knew. And since we went to church about 4 times a week, I certainly knew what a sin was.
In the early 70s, my mother became a feminist. She told me that feminists were against sexism, which was a sin, just like racism was a sin. I was older then, so while I still believed what Mom told me, I did bring up to her the stuff I was hearing, like why didn't women want to get married and have babies anymore, why did they want to use the mens restroom, stuff like that.
Mom explained to me that those issues were garbage that sexist people made up to distract people from the only real issue: sexism, which she defined as mistreatment of women. As an aside, I would like to point out that, because of the huge jump in inflation in the U.S. in the 1970s, most "housewives" were forced to leave home and join the workforce, whether they were feminists or not. My mother did.
I mean no disrespect to Ms. Friedan, but from my agreeably sheltered vantage point, it seemed, and still seems, that my Mom was right: sexist bigots were creating false issues with which to bait feminists, and feminists were, unfortunately, taking the bait.
Norman Mailer, a liberal intellectual, was engaging in these overblown public debates with the leading feminists of the day, splitting hairs and parsing words, and meanwhile, there were District Attorneys in many jurisdictions who refused to prosecute accused rapists because they didn't believe there was any such thing as rape.
I don't know if Mom read "The Feminine Mystique" or not. She wasn't anti-intellectual, by any means, my mother. She read a lot. Many famous feminists were heroes to Mom.
But she always had a name for "the problem": Sexism.
BTW, as I read over this, it sounds like my mother is deceased, but she's not. She's alive and doing well, knock on wood. And, of course, she's still a feminist.
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Time to pry the gun from his cold, almost-dead hands
[Read the article: Game warden: "Hunter's judgment" at fault in Cheney shooting]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Cheney and a couple of other hunters were standing in a line, facing one way, probably east. Some birds were flushed in front of them and flew over their heads. Cheney wheeled around, 180 degrees, and fired, blinded by the late-afternoon sun in the west, thus hitting Harry Whittington, who was standing behind him.
Cheney broke Rule Number One of hunting in the field: A hunter must never, ever, ever turn, wheel, spin, reel, whatever and shoot out of the bounds of his original field of vision.
If you don't hit a bird while it's in your standing field of vision, you LET IT GO! Period.
It sounds like he had his finger on the trigger as he was turning around, which is another stupid mistake. He could have just as easily shot another hunter who was standing in his shooting line.
This goes beyond "hunter's judgment." It was extremely reckless behavior on Cheney's part. So of course the republicans are blaming their victim. That's their M.O.
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"It looks good 'on'--fire!"
[Read the article: Project Bummer]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I think I've developed a way to quantify, and thus render objective, the judging in these fashion-designer contests.
As each designer presents his/her fashion creation, a live studio audience answers "Yes" or "No" (via wireless keypad) to three questions:
1) "Would you actually BUY this piece of shit?"
2) "Would you actually WEAR this piece of shit in public?"
3) "Have you ever seen an UGLIER piece of shit garment in your life?"
At the end of the presentation, the answers are tabulated and, in an accurate reflection of the real world of fashion, the contestant with the greatest number of "No"s is crowned the most brilliant genius designer in the world!
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No Shame
[Read the article: Broken Hammer]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"The Republicans represented by DeLay have endured considerable humiliation."
I disagree.
The culture of racism, religious bigotry and homophobia in DeLay's district more than counteracts any humiliation his republican constituents might be expected to feel.
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Stand By Your Man
[Read the article: My husband says he's "allergic" to me]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]If you think this story is made up, then you've obviously never been to Nashville.
"Sometimes it's hard to be a woman,
Giving all your love to just one man.
You'll have bad times, and he'll have good times,
Doing things that you don't understand.
But if you love him, please forgive him,
Even though he's hard to understand.
And if you love him, be proud of him,
'Cause after all he's just a man.
Stand by your man . . . "
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Like $3 gas? Keep voting Republican!
[Read the article: Running scared in Ohio]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]In a sane U.S., about the only thing that Ohio Republican candidates would have going for them this fall is the fact that their state is not likely to get hit by a hurricane.
But with so many opportunities to vote against their own best interests--high unemployment, high gas prices, environmental devastation, a dysfunctional education system, unprecedented government corruption, just to name a few--what Ohioan could resist the impulse to maintain the status quo and send their Republican congressmen back to D.C.?
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Slacking is as old as the pyramids
[Read the article: Great couch potatoes of history]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]If you've ever been to an Amway meeting, then you've seen the marketing of "slackerhood" raised to the genius level. The subtext of all multi-level marketing schemes is that sitting in a cubicle all day, working hard for somebody else, is for schmucks.
The really smart people are the ones who kick back and let the people below them on the pyramid, their "downline," make them rich.
It's the old "There's no such thing as a free lunch" maxim turned on its head. In the MLM world, anybody who earns their daily bread by the sweat of their brow is an idiot.
In the real world, it's not shameful to be unemployed, or to be, for example, a starving artist. However, it is shameful to act like the world owes you a living.
It's shameful, and a sin, to exploit other people.
Finally, it's a shame, and a sin, to waste ones talent.